Archives for July 2017

Happy Monday everyone! Time to talk about our last day in Santa Barbara, CA! My cousin and I were deeply upset that our vacation was coming to an end so soon. So what better way to cope with our sorrow by hitting up a wine tasting room….for three hours 😛

But first, I enjoyed one final run in Santa Barbara. This time I ran to the Andree Clark Bird Refuge at the end of East Cabrillo Street. Even though it’s still on the main drag, it’s at the opposite end of Stearn’s Wharf and State Street. I wouldn’t say it was the most beautiful spot, but it was definitely peaceful. Basically, if I were a bird, I’d live there. 🙂

Since this was our last morning, my cousin and I kept it low key and went to breakfast at our hotel at 10 am, then walked to Kunin Wine Tasting Room in the Funk Zone!

Photo Credit: Kunin Wines

Well, to say we had a great time here would be an understatement. The person walking us through our flight was fun and helpful! We may or may not have received some “bonus rounds” during our visit. 😉 After three hours of heavy-handed pours. My cousin and I needed food. Stat! And not a wimpy salad either. Luckily, right next door was Santa Barbara FisHouse. You guys…I had the BEST fried fish sandwich of my life!! Yeah, the alcohol factors into my decision but seriously, it was really fresh!

Since we had a late lunch and some time to kill, once again we headed back to the beach for some final hours of California Sunshine and relaxation.

Photo Credit: My cousin haha

Alright friends! That ends the recap of our Girls Trip to Santa Barbara, CA! I would return there in a heartbeat. So to that, I’ll say ta-ta for now Santa Barbara!

Hey gang! Happy hump day! Maryland is currently (and feels like forever will be…) in a heat wave this week. I hope everyone is practicing safe running 😉 Typically, I hate to carry anything while I run. But I’ve stopped fighting it and decided to carry a small water bottle on my runs. What a lifesaver! If I can do it, you can do it.

So onto the long awaited day 2 recap of the girls trip to Santa Barbara! I already miss it 🙁

That morning I woke up early and decided to go for a run along the coastline. Generally when I am running on vacation, I am not worried about my pace. I take it slow and enjoy my surroundings. I couldn’t help but notice all the beautiful landscaping on the side of the roads. In Maryland, we typically have free furniture on the side of the road 😛

I mean, who wouldn’t want to run by this every morning?!

After my run, my cousin and I headed to the breakfast at the hotel restaurant and fueled up for our first paddleboarding lessons! This has been on our bucket list for years and it is nice to have it finally crossed off. I would HIGHLY recommend Cal Coast Adventures as the tour company. Conner, our guide, was very encouraging and fun. We paddled all around the harbor and saw some tiny sting rays. Then we got brave and paddled under the pier, which I definitely ran into a few times before I made it through. We ventured out to some of the boats that were anchored off the shore and we found a sea lion just chilling on the back of a boat like he owned it haha. After we returned to shore, my cousin and I definitely agreed we would do it again. Yay for accomplishing some life goals!

After out paddleboarding adventure, we worked up quite the appetite and headed back to the Funk Zone to a pizza place called Lucky Penny. If you find yourself in Santa Barbara, you NEED to go here. Immediately. We ordered the house market salad, The Parker pizza, frosè, and watermelon beer. We were in heaven!!!

After indulging, we needed to walk off all that food. We decided to walk around and just explore. We came upon an arts and crafts fair right along the shoreline that had some beautiful jewelry. After some shopping we wandered over to Stearns Wharf to watch everyone catch some fish and enjoy the sunshine. The views from the pier captured the beauty of Santa Barbara perfectly!

After some wandering around, we decided what good is going to a beach town if you don’t sit on the beach?! We headed back to the hotel, changed into our swimsuits, and off we went to the beach!

We stayed on the beach for a few hours and before we knew it, it was time to get ready for dinner. We headed to Cadiz on State Street for some yummy tapas, that were apparently so yummy that we forgot to take pictures. After dinner we just walked around State Street and enjoyed the evening people watching 🙂

That wraps up day 2! Stay tuned for the day 3 recap with more delicious food!

Hey gang! Hope everyone had a fun fourth with tons of food, beer, wine, and running 😉 My cousin and I planned a girls trip to Santa Barbara this year as a way to de-stress and get our toes in the sand! We spent a total of 4 days, 3 nights there which was plenty of time to relax and take it all in. We stayed at the BEAUTIFUL Santa Barbara Inn and we cannot say enough good things about it!

We got to the hotel around 2:30 pm and around 2:31 pm, we hit the beach! It was literally right across the street from our hotel.

After a few hours on the beach, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. Our hotel had a really nice restaurant called Convivo with decent happy hour that had $5 glasses on wine. I can’t even spell “no” to that! My cousin and I, being the gracious and refined ladies we are, casually strolled up to the bar in our beach gear and covered in sand, ordered our drinks “to-go” and sipped our sparking rose as we got ready in our room. Cheers to that!

For dinner, we headed to The Lark, located in a cool area of town called The Funk Zone. We started the night off with the best brussel sprouts I have ever had! They were made with dates, fish sauce, and lime. Don’t knock it ’til you try it!

After the sprouts, we must have still been hungry because we devoured our food without taking pictures hahaha. I cannot say enough good things about The Lark!

After dinner, we decided to walk around and explore State Street, the main strip for a bit. The weather was perfect, dare I say a bit chilly! We walked off our meals, took note of some cool places to check out on State Street, and walked back to our hotel. Ready to rest up for day 2 of our adventure!

So tell me, have you been to Santa Barbara? Any vacations planned this summer?